This Sunday brought sunshine back to Cascade Head, and the clear sky called for a hike!
It was a wonderful reconnection with our magic land here, a time of inspiration and amazing sights.
After the last buckets of rain, the crave for outdoors had grown big… as I said to a friend later in the day, ‘the soul needed some sky time’.
And as I sit high in front of the ocean, on the soft grassy grounds that watch over my new home, the soul out in the sky soaring around with a couple of juvenile bald eagles, words came.
Writing comes usually to me as a mighty flow I can’t honestly control or understand; and there is not much to do about it afterwords either, except some careful, discrete carving here and there. It works differently from my drawing, or playing… Creativity really is a mysterious thing.
You will soon find the poem that came to me today in my writing page. It is called Letter to an older self.
I found out that the last week has been a celebrating week for whales, and that couldn’t make me happier!! I personally celebrate these marvelous creatures every day since I was a little girl, but the “official” World Whale Day falls on the 3rd Saturday of February (but I found news of celebrations going on since the 8th).
My latest research focuses on marine mammals and coastal ecosystems among other things, and I find this a perfect moment to share some of it with you.
About the coastal environment, I am studying the phenomenon of herring spawning across the coasts of northern BC, Canada. It is striking to me, and very inspiring for my art, because it highlights connections between so many diverse organisms in the ecosystem who are involved in the event -from fish to birds, to wolves and trees- including the local First Nations communities, who have taken part to this incredible moment since millennia and are now fighting to protect it from non-sustainable fishing and short-sighted management.
You can find more informations about this topic here:
https://pacificwild.org/campaign/protect-pacific-herring/
https://www.hakaimagazine.com/features/of-roe-rights-and-reconciliation/
https://www.jstor.org/stable/26270079?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents
As for the marine mammals: I am coordinating a new website, reuniting artists and researchers who took part to the workshop “Arts as a tool for communicating marine mammals science” in Barcelona last December -a workshop I co-organized with Luigi Bundone and Volker Smit.
The website is www.marmart.net and is a still work-in-progress co-authoring project, gradually taking shape thanks to the commitment of all of us involved. Marmart’s aims are to keep us in touch, support new collaborations and connections, and ultimately to become a resource for whoever interested in the field of arts and marine conservation.
As I announced in the last post, another big topic for me is now humpback whale song, so here are some resources about that as well:
https://www.hakaimagazine.com/article-short/caamano-sound-whale-music/
And finally, since the love for nature gets often mixed with regrets and worries today -about Anthropocene and its threats to the Planet- and since I am getting back to my long-lasting fascination for First Nations Cultures and connection with the land… here is a great lecture from Buffy Sainte-Marie, where she talks about Detoxification and Identity.
I believe that in these times of frustration and pain, of toxic environments and behaviors, her words and energy can do much good, as they are reinvigorating, freeing, and filled with creativity and passion -and great inspiring stories.
Below you can find the lecture (Buffy’s actual speech starts at min. 13:30 in the video).
As a wish for the starting week, I leave you with an Invitation -more words that arrived to me up in Cascade Head, and will now travel through the net to all of you. It is called “Since souls are wild things”.
And happy Whale Days to all!
Since souls
are wild things
Bring yourself to those places
where your soul can come back to you.
There, where Warmth can heal
and Light embroid your smile
with grandma’s caring hands
and daughter’s gentlest touch.
May the Land soothe you deep
and again open your breathe,
and again,
and again.
May your soul join you
in peace and strength,
and may you dance all night on the soft grounds
For the fun of stars.
And then may Ocean’s voice
lull the sleep of thosewho are One inside
and shine.
